Chapter Fourteen
Date Night
This was a bad idea, Adrian thought to himself seven months and one day later, as he waddled hand in hand with Justin through the grounds of the first-ever Three Rivers county fair. He winced with damn near every step and was so over being pregnant it wasn’t funny. Sure, he was glowing, but he peed every time he blinked, and his back ached. But, Justin knew he loved the idea of the fair, and Adrian wasn’t opposed to going out a few more times before their sweet baby was born.
“Want some cotton candy, babe?” Justin asked, pulling him close and nuzzling his shoulder.
He focused on the feel of Justin against him, instead of on the rumble created by the combination of shrill music, children screaming, and people yelling to be heard all around them. At the mention of cotton candy, there was a kick from his womb.
Coming to a stop, he smiled and nodded. “Can I have two?”
Justin twirled him around and then kissed the top of his head. “You can have as many as you want.” Taking Adrian by the hand, he led him to a nearby bench and said, “All right, sit here, and I’ll be right back. You need anything else?”
He planted his hands on top of his stomach and then leaned back. “You know, I’m perfectly capable of standing in line.”
Justin’s head tilted to the side. “Just because we’re out and about, doesn’t mean I can’t help you take it easy as much as possible.”
Pretending to be annoyed, he pouted. “Well, I suppose I could go for a blue slushy as well.”
The unicorn grinned. “Coming right up.” Leaning down, he kissed Adrian on the cheek and then shot off in the other direction to stand in line. He glanced back and winked. Adrian smiled, waved, and then scanned the crowd. Mariah and Kit were out here somewhere, too. They were supposed to meet up soon.
In the distance on his left, people were lining up for the event everyone had agreed to host the carnival for. Adrian smiled and sat up straighter. “The Big O.” He leaned to his left and then shifted to his right in order to get back onto his feet.
By that time, Justin was jogging toward him, holding a big, plastic drink cup with one of those bendy straws and four bags of pink cotton candy. “Babe? Why did you get up?”
He stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Another reason he was over being pregnant was Justin was way too overprotective of him. Pointing at the huge Ferris wheel, he took two of the bags of cotton candy. “I want to go on it.”
With a frown, Justin said, “I don’t know.”
Adrian narrowed his eyes.
“It’s just…are you sure the baby can take it?”
Baby. A grin crossed his face every time Adrian heard the word. They were having a baby. He snorted. “Oh my God!” Opening the plastic bag, he stuffed a pile of candy onto his tongue and muttered, “We’re going on it without you!” He walked away as fast as he could, which, lately, wasn’t very fast, so Justin had no problem keeping up.
“Sweetheart…”
Adrian turned and glared him into silence. With a grin, he sighed as he came to a stop at the end of the line. Ahead of them, two teenagers were taking goofy selfies with their cell phones. Adrian gobbled the rest of his cotton candy and opened the next one. “We can’t come to the carnival and not ride the world’s biggest Ferris wheel.”
He took a sip of the blue slushy. “Technically, it’s not the world’s biggest.”
Adrian waved him off. “Region’s biggest then.”
“Region’s only,” Justin muttered. He spent the next several minutes trying to convince Adrian riding the Ferris wheel was a bad idea. Adrian simply smiled and nodded as the two of them got closer and closer to the front of the line. Taking Justin’s hand, he finally said, “It’s going to be fine.”
Justin nodded just before a carnival worker stepped up to them. “Okay, folks,” he said, breathing heavily. “You’re up next.”
Adrian beamed and followed the squat man to the next open car.
“Sorry, man, no drinks on the ride.” The man jutted a chubby hand out toward Justin. Adrian frowned, grabbed the drink, and took a long sip before handing it over. The man grinned, turned to hand it to a co-worker, and then waved them toward their seats.
Justin took his elbow and helped him up into the car. “This is a bad idea.”
“Oh, hush,” he said, sitting down.
The carnival worker smiled as he made sure the two of them were secure in the cart. “When are you due?”
He patted his stomach. “Next week.”
He glanced at Adrian’s belly and grinned. “Well, I hope all of you enjoy the ride.”
“We will!” he called as the man walked away.
Beside him, Justin snorted. “Instead of those height charts, they should have a sign that says, to ride, you can’t be this pregnant.” Then, he swooped his arms out in front of himself, creating a curve shape.
Adrian swatted at his arms. “Stop, you’re driving me crazy.” He placed his hands back onto his stomach. “And your little girl, too.”
He sighed and leaned back, draping an arm across Adrian’s shoulders. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, you’re sort of adorable.”
He snuggled in close to Adrian. “And you are absolutely breathtaking.”
With a shiver, he tried to get even closer to Justin. Closing his eyes, he rested his head on the unicorn’s shoulder. The car they were in shuddered and then rocked back and forth.
“Last chance to get off,” Justin whispered.
Swinging his feet, Adrian smiled, and ignored him. Moments later, a cheesy ’80s song blared, and he opened his eyes in time to see the lights snap on.
“Mm, this is so romantic,” Adrian said as they were lifted into the air. The sun had already sunk below the horizon, and the stars blinked down at them from the night sky.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Justin said, finally sounding like he was having fun.
Adrian grinned, and then lifted his arms in the air as their car went higher and higher into the air. As soon as his arms were above his head, there was a sharp pain in his side. His vision blurred, and he gasped.
“Wow, look at that view,” Justin said.
He grabbed his stomach. There was another sharp pain, and he gritted his teeth. “Oh, no.”
“Babe?” Justin gripped his shoulder tighter. “What is it?”
Adrian gasped again. The Ferris wheel car came to a stop, and screams of joy echoed out around them. “Oh, no, no, no.”
“Adrian? What? Is it the baby?”
There was another sharp pain, and then warm liquid flooded between his legs. He stretched his mouth open, and slowly turned to face Justin. “Oh God. I think I peed myself,” he said, looking down again.
“Ew!” a female voice complained from below. “Why is everything all wet?” Then there was a shriek as the woman traced the source of the liquid.
Embarrassment flooded his cheeks, and tears stung his eyes. Another sharp pain stabbed him in his abdomen; this one stole his breath. That was when he realized he hadn’t peed himself.
His water had broken.
“Justin,” he said, taking a deep breath. “The baby’s coming.” He gripped the railing in front of him so tight his knuckles turned bone white. “And I think she’s coming fast,” he added through clenched teeth.
“Oh, crap! Crap!”
Justin shouted something Adrian couldn’t make out over the hammering of his heart in his ears. Soon, the Ferris wheel moved again, and panicked voices buzzed all around them. He tuned it out, trying to keep the pain under control. Each time it let up, it gripped onto him again, until he was sweating and doubled over.
“Hold on, baby,” Justin muttered, rubbing a hand up and down his back. “I’m here. I’m with you.”
He gritted his teeth and then held his breath until he got dizzy. It felt like something was opening up inside him. A groan escaped his lips just as their car swept back to the ground and once again came to a halt. Justin started pounding up the bar long before the carnival worker came to let them out. Then, he lifted Adrian as if he didn’t weigh a ton and power-walked to a nearby bench. As soon as he was sitting down, Justin pulled out his cell phone and barked orders into it.
Mariah and Kit rushed over to them, but Adrian was too focused on his own body to say much. Until Kit sat down, that was.
“Are you going to have the baby now?” she asked.
“Looks like.”
Kit surveyed the fairgrounds. “We should’ve asked for a bigger first-aid tent,” she said judiciously.
A laugh pushed its way out past his pain. “I think you’re right. We should have.”
Kit tilted her head and looked at Adrian. “It’s going to be good to have a baby around,” she said, with all the certainty of childhood, before she stood up and walked to her mother.
The girl was right, Adrian knew—if, of course, he could just get past giving birth.
He forced himself to calm down, breathing in and out and rubbing his stomach. “Oh, I’m upset with you,” he mumbled while panting. “Now it looks like I peed myself in public.”
Another contraction ripped through him, as if in response. He winced, but still managed a smile. “All right, all right.” He took in several more breaths. “I get it. You wanted to see the view, too.”